Overpass to be named in honour of murdered OPP officer from
Alliston

The highway overpass on Simcoe County Rd 93 at Hwy 400 is in the
process of being named in memory of OPP Constable (Tom) Thomas Coffin,
who was killed shortly after his shift ended, on May 31, 1997.

Pictured above,
the Google Earth view of the Cty Rd 93 overpass to be named in memory
of OPP Constable Thomas (Tom) Coffin, inset.

The request to honour Const. Coffin comes from Tom's widow, Kim,
through Michael Adair, President of Branch 7 of the OPP Association, in
a June letter to County council, asking for support.

On May 31, 1997, Tom and his friend had ended their afternoon shift and
were sitting at the Commodore Hotel in Penetanguishene having a drink
when at approximately 12:30 am Allen MacDonald, a former North York
fire captain and former chair of the Penetanguishene Police Board, shot
the 32-year-old in the head at close range. Coffin had previously
arrested MacDonald on a drunk-driving charge which cost him his job. He
was convicted in May 2000 and sentenced to life (25 years no parole).

"Since that day, not a day goes by that his family, friends and fellow
brothers and sisters in law enforcement do not miss him," Mr. Adair wrote. "We will always grieve
his loss."

Tom was born in Toronto, raised in Alliston, and at 18, joined the
Alliston Police Service as an auxiliary officer. At 21, he joined the
Kirkland Lake Police Service, and by 26, was a member of the
Penetanguishene Police Service which amalgmated with Midland OPP in
1996.

Several highway overpasses in the province are named in memory of
fallen police officers.

"Part of the procedure to have this accomplished is that I must prove
to the Ministry of Transportation, information that the Municipalities,
in which this Structure is located, will support our efforts," wrote
Mr. Adair. "This project would be totally funded by the Ontario
Provincial Police Association and you would not be subject to any
requests for funding."